N.B. Xerox employee who claimed he was paid less because he's Black vindicated by commission

Four years after filing a complaint that he was paid less than his co-workers at Xerox because he's Black, Normand Hector says he feels validated.

The New Brunswick Human Rights Commission said it has found sufficient information "to establish an arguable case of race and colour discrimination" against Hector's former employer, Xerox Canada. 

As as result, the commission has recommended an inquiry "by referring the matter to the Labour and Employment Board."

"They believed me," said a relieved Hector. "Everything that I had claimed and everything that I had gathered and everything that I had submitted, they believed me. And I think that is such a nice feeling when somebody believes you." 

He's also relieved that his case will move on to the Labour and Employment Board, although no date has been set for the hearing, nor for any pre-hearing meetings, said Lise Landry, the board's chief executive officer. 

"It is now going to move forward," said Hector. "And I think that's the biggest thing that resonates with me — believing me is one thing, but knowing that it's going to move forward is huge. Huge."

Xerox Canada was asked to provide an interview, but the company declined. In an emailed statement, spokesperson Justin Capella said, "Xerox is committed to upholding the highest diversity, equity and inclusion standards, however as standard practice we do not comment on pending litigation matters."

The report from the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission examined Hector's 20-year career with Xerox, including his performance reviews and salary as compared to other sales managers.

According to company documents, he was making about $10,000 less than other managers. 

In an email dated Aug. 13, 2019, Hector's manager, Tammy Mehan, wrote to someone in human resources asking, "Would you be able to do an equity assessment for Normand Hector. He is on my management team and we are at risk of losing him due to base salary. Based on the information I have he is much lower than any of my managers about 10k." 

According to the commission's report, Mehan also noted "that he was an entry-level manager who was managing an entry-level team, and he was being compared to managers who had been in management positions for several years, so it was appropriate that he would be paid less than these other managers with more tenure." 

The report also states, "The Respondent maintains that race was never a factor for either the Respondent or the Complainant. They maintain that all of the Complainant's salary requests were taken seriously and managed without regard to his race, that the Complainant was successful in securing significant salary increases until he became too aggressive in August 2019, and that the Complainant's own insubordinate behaviour and attitude prevented him from achieving a raise before a final determination had been made."

Although vindicated in the end, Hector is saddened by having to file a complaint in the first place.  

"That's a piece that really hits me hard. The people that you think will have your back don't have your back," he said.